COVID-19 Variant Emerges in UK, AstraZeneca to Supply 2 Million Doses Each

Amid the Spread of COVID Variants
2 Million Doses per Mid-Month

As the UK faces an emergency due to the emergence of a highly transmissible new variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), citizens in London held protests against COVID-19 lockdown measures on the 31st of last month (local time). The UK government, responding to a rapid increase in confirmed cases following the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant, raised the response level to the highest stage, Level 4, in London and the southeast region of England, effectively entering a state of emergency lockdown. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] AstraZeneca, which received emergency use authorization for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from the UK government, plans to supply 2 million doses (enough for 200 vaccinations) weekly to the UK until mid-month.

According to local UK media, on the 1st (local time), AstraZeneca will start supplying 2 million doses to the UK by next week and continue to supply 2 million doses weekly until the third week of this month. Vaccinations will begin today, the 4th.

Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the UK became the first country in the world to approve the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Previously, the UK was the first in the world to start vaccinations with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier last month.

In the UK, new COVID-19 cases have reached over 50,000 for four consecutive days, hitting record highs, and the spread of variant coronavirus strains is also increasing.

On this day, there were 53,285 new confirmed cases, and 613 additional deaths.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.